Waikiki Niketown building may be redeveloped — someday

Zoning rule changes passed last year by the Honolulu City Council mean the Waikiki retail complex once anchored by Niketown and Banana Republic could be redeveloped into a mixed-used tower with retail and residential units, but current owner Robertson Properties Group says it is focused on finding new retail tenants for the vacant building.

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports that landowner Robertston Properties, which took ownership of the leasehold King Kalakaua Plaze two years ago after claiming Lehman Brothers owed some $9 million for breaking the ground lease, says while it's currently looking for retail tenants for the 80,000 square-foot building, the Los Angeles-based company is also looking at a long-term plan to redevelop the property with a mixed-use tower.

Robertson Properties recently filed a final environmental impact statement for a project to redevelop the site of the former Kamehameha Drive-in across from Pearlridge Center in Aiea into a mixed-use complex.